My Favorite Album of 2008.............. (so far)

So my Home girl from the Midwest Ari Botsford, blessed us with her Album reviews of the year so far....(check it out)

BUT.......................

She did not mention My Favorite Album of 08'....
So I am here to pay homage to the Great Rick Ross and his second Album Trilla


Rick Ross
(2008, Def Jam/Slip N Slide/Poe Boy)

How'd Ya Find HOW'D YA FIND OUT ABOUT Him?:
Every Day I'm Hustlin, Every Day I'm Hustlin... I played that song soooooooo much., shiiiit I still play it.

Do NOT Skip Over:
3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,13....yea all of em'

Skip Over:
The Dj Khaled interlude (annoying)

Favorite Track:
It's a tough one between the self proclamation anthem "The Boss"
Or the Hovah featured lifestyle of success track Maybach Music
Luxury track has a strong cast with Weezy
However I'm going with the Trey Songz collabo that goes into detail on "This is the Life"

I Didn't Expect:
Money Make Cum- Showcasing the women who are about their money.
Maybach Music- Out of the 745 white on white, to the "Black Maybach, white seats, black piping"

Features:
Trey Songz, Nelly, Wayne, T-Pain, Young Jeezy, R. Kelly, Jay-Z

Favorite Lines:
"When I seen a million it fucked up my life
Brand new twenty cars party for twenty nights" - This is the life

"It's hard to get sleep layin next to five mil" - This Me

"And shawty straight diggin me, and I ain't even rich
I know you niggaz on the sideline like, "Ain't that a bitch?" - the boss

"Words rhymin best
Can't spell well but I define success
I sell well" - This is the Life

"Got me a white girl, i f**k til her face red,
Yeah her food tastes bad, but she givin great head" - Billionaire

Producers:
J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League - 4 Tracks
DJ Toomp - "This Me"
Drumma Boy - 2 Tracks
J.R. Rotem - "The Boss"
The Runners - "Speedin"

Assesment:
I'm a hustler and you gotta love someone who makes music that'll help you stay on your grind.

Line I'm most associated with:
"Hoes wanna slice I wanna tell her no
But I can't I get a rush blowin dough"
-This is the Life


So, What's Your Favorite Album of 2008 so far??

As I Am...review

Hey, It's ya girl Ash here to fill you on the hottest album of November (sorry Hov)

For all you Alicia Keys fans the wait is finally over!!!!

Ms. Keys has finally dropped her long awaited third album entitled As I Am (released Nov.13^th).

I tend to be a little biased when it comes to Alicia Keys because I’m a die-hard fan and love everything she puts out. Mainly because it’s original and all her own. But for those of ya’ll who may have been sleeping on her you need to go out and cop this album, it’s her best work yet.

“You can definitely expect the unexpected from this album," Keys admitted. "It's different. It has a new energy. It has a new feeling. It has like more of aggression to it. I've learned a lot this year and I've been through a lot. So I think that I've grown as a person. You definitely feel it. You hear it in the sound of it. You hear it in the passion in my voice. You hear it all the way around the board.”---Alicia Keys

You get a balance of slow and fast tracks on this album.

Her two current singles “No One” and “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” (just released) continue to blow up the air waves. And they are just a taste of the hard work she’s been putting in, in the studio. You have to love how she mixes her classic piano style with a taste of R&B (new and old).

Other singles to look out for are “Lessons Learned”, “Wreckless Love”, “The Thing About Love”, “Superwoman” and “Sure Looks Good to Me.”

If you only buy one album (no bootlegs) this fourth quarter get Alicia Keys’, As I Am.

It’s a classic. It’s energetic. And Ms. Keys lets it be known that’s it’s aight to be yourself and express your feelings. If you don’t feel something when you listen to this album there’s DEFINITELY something wrong with you…..

For those of you that haven’t seen this yet. You need to check out “Like You’ll Never See Me Again”

Till the next review,

Ash

American Gangster Album Review

The wait is over.

After giving an explanation as to why he went back into the studio and made an album with drugs, money, and "the Life" as his subject matter ("I was inspired by the movie"). Jay was given the pass to return to Reasonable Doubt.

So, at first I was gonna just steal LowKey's review (www.youheardthatnew.com), but I decided to write one myself. Not because LowKeys was bad, but because non-Jay fans (other blogs/review sites that I checked out) have been reviewing this album. So, I thought a big Jay fan should give a review of the album, while I'm listening to the album.


INTRO
They took some dialogue from the movie, then opened up with some of their own. They go through defining "A Gangster". Favorite line

"To be a Gangster, swagger is not a must it's a liability a cliche"

If you seen the movie you'd understand this and other parts of the album.

PRAY
Opening with a prayer, showing the human side to
"A gangster". Giving some of light at what can be learned at a young age,

"what we call corrupt he called paying dues
now when the rules is blurred as they are what am I to do
but pray, pray the lord forgive me"

AMERICAN DREAM
I really feel this song and the beat is so soulful, he sampled "Soon I'll Be Loving You Again" by Marvin Gaye. The song is the actual introduction into the "Game" and how it starts off as "A dream". In the middle is my favorite lines, showing the naivety when beginning Jay states,

"know where to cop? (Naw)
got a connect (No),
who in the F knows how to be successful."

In the third verse, he then details how you start your growth mentioning the "connect" for the first time.

HELLO BROOKLYN ft. Lil' Wayne
It's got that late-'80s 808 thump, which I think goes well with the album. What started at a song about a girl (who's name just happens to be "Brooklyn"), turns into a song painting a picture of the place where Jay is from. Most interesting line comes from Wayne,

"she told me she like my New Orleans demeanor,
and so i said goodbye Katrina and Hello Brooklyn".

NO HOOK
A very personal song, talking about the situation with his family that led him to go full time into the "game". How it's raised him and how hustle is what everyone does. Goes away from what the actions of the main character in the movie,

"like Frank Lucas is cool but i ain't trying to snitch"

ROC BOYS
The party anthem of the album, and the "high point" of the "life". n acceptance speech after winning an award,

"Speech,
first of all i wanna thank my connect,
the most important person with all due respect"

Reminds me of "The Mack", at the Player's Ball when Goldie is crowned the Mack of the Year.

SWEET
Is almost like the morning after reflections and feelings. Reflecting on the influence that he has over his family,

"If I would've grew up to be a doctor, my nephews would've grew up to do the same".

And the feeling that comes with knowing that your family and crew is doing well together.

"I'm even better, I'm eating better
best thing about it, is my nga's eating together".

It's a real "Sweet" feeling.

I KNOW
Many will mistake this for a love song. However, it's not about love of a woman, it's about the dependency that comes with addiction. Jay, puts himself as the drug and plays conscious to the woman telling her

"I know what you like, i am your prescription
I'm your physician, i'm your addiction"

Second verse Jay continues with the metaphor of the song, then comparing the addiction to shopping

"like every color Giuseppe's, your guilty pleasure is me
Its so much fun, you shun therapy"

I really like how Jay has masked the "actual" song, so that only those that listen in will pick it up (sorry for spoiling it, but you would not have gotten it anyway). The ending of the addiction is wonderfully depicted at the end of the song with the drug (Jay) trying to hold on.

"How could you deny me so vehemently?
Now your body is shakin' trying to free it of me
And your soul is in control, trying to lead it from me
And your heart no longer pledge allegiance to me
Damn, i'm missing the days when you needed the D"

Party Life
The most conversational song on the album, with Jay talking over the chorus, in between the song and of course with the ad libs. It's the smooth and grown song and the last signs of real enjoyment of the "life" on the album/movie.

"hey baby when you used to fillet mignon
its kind of hard to go back to hamburger helper."

It's the older, "made man" that has no real worries.

"I'm in a whole other leauge, nga's never catch me

Ignorant Shit
Now I've heard this song before and liked it, I believe this is the only song that's really out of place (Blue Magic is a bonus track). Jay took a shot at the claims that Hip Hop influenced Don Imus's remarks.

"I missed the part where it stopped being about Imus
What do my lyrics got to do with this SHIT?"

Jay also shows the complexities with rapping and how people are tuning too close to "entertainment" .

"SCARFACE the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me
Still that ain't the blame for all the shit that's happened to me "

Jay also, takes a shot at the critics of hip hop that don't show the same forceful stance to pop stars.

"Are you saying what I'm spitting,
Is worse than these celebutantes showin' they kitten, you kidding?"

SAY HELLO
Personally, I think this will be the underrated song of the album, it's the longest and most conscious song. As the album is coming to a close, the public is now putting the "life" under a microscope.

"They say i'm a menace
That's the picture they paint
They say a lot about me
Let me tell ya what i ain't"

So Jay is speaking out on the ills of society to justify his reasons for being in the "life". "

"Only God can judge him, only he without sin
Can tell me if my means can justify my ends."

The second and third verse are especially crazy, but I'll just post up a couple of lines.

"And if Al Sharpton is speaking for me
Somebody get him the word and tell him i don't approve
Tell him i'll remove the curses
If you tell me our schools gon' be perfect
When Jena 6 don't exist
Tell him THAT's when i'll stop saying bitch---BIIITCH! "

SUCCESS ft. Nas
Starts off with my favorite quote from the movie, "We can be successful and have enemies. Or we can be unsuccessful and have friends." I like he talks about the stress that can come with success.

"Is this what success all about,
a bunch of nga's actin like bitches with big mouths,
all this stress all i got is this big house,
couple cars i don't bring half them shits out,
all this Ace of Spade I drink just to piss out,
I mean I like the taste could've saved myself six hours"

However, to me the most controversial part came from Nas. He states

"Worst enemies wanna be my best friends, best friends wanna be enemies like that's what in."

I'll let you decide what you think of that.

FALLIN'
Fallin plays as the summary of the album, beginning with his feeling when he first got into the game,

"When i get to one brick, then The Game i will depart with
Got to one brick then i looked to the sky, said
Sorry God, i lied, but give me one more try"

To getting locked up and losing the empire that you built,

"When the letters start to slow, when your commissary's low
When your lawyer screams "Appeal!" only thinkin' bout a bill
When your chances are nil, damn, gravity's ill... "

Finally, how to leave the drug life (and the rap life),

"Fight, and you'll never survive
Run, and you'll never escape
So just fall from grace, damn...."

The movie concept of the album is now finished, starting with a "prayer" and ending with the lead character "falling". Jay continues on with two bonus tracks.

BLUE MAGIC
Two parts stand out to me on this song. First is the mention of the Iran-Contra scandal (that brought a lot of drugs in during the Reaganomics era),

"Blame Reagan for making me into a monster
Blame Oliver North and Iran-Contra
I ran contraband that they sponsored"

Secondly,

"Push (push) money over broads, you got it, fuck Bush"

I just don't know which one he's talking about???

AMERICAN GANGSTER
A Just Blazed production that has bits and pieces of the rest of the album. The final closing of the album.














So, cop the album... and let me hear what you have to say about it...1